Pages

Tuesday, 11 December 2012

Trove Tuesday - Cures through the Years

I have a cold - well, I had a cold and now it's a sinus infection.
This is a common complaint through both sides of my family and I've been working through all the 'cures' and 'pick-me-ups' passed down through the years - inhalations, lemon and honey drinks, keep warm, etc.
It set me to wondering how these came about.

Were they passed down to my ancestors from their ancestors?

Or were they picked up by reading the paper?

Here are a few 'cures' I have found using Trove across a number of years.

The first is from 1863 and not really a cure for a cold, really a cure for a cold head - buy a wig from Professor Burnett!
As I have plenty of hair, this one is not for me.

The next from 1873 is pretty scary and hopefully read by all tongue-in-cheek.
It includes almost all the 'old wives's tales' that you could think of! I don't think I'll try this one.

Then, even scarier in 1919 when my sinus-suffering Nanna was a young girl.
I hope she never tried this 'only in America' cure.

And then one from when my parents were little in 1939.
I'm sure if you suffered through this 'cure' you would never own up to having a cold or flu again, no matter how sick you are.

So, it seems that my 'cures' handed down are much more tame.
I'm off to boil the kettle.

Followers

About Me

The main purpose of my blog is to share photos and stories with my extended family.
I started researching many years ago after an accident, when my mother gave me a pile of her research to take further (and keep my brain working) - she wouldn't touch computers but had a large collection of family papers and photos, and had done a lot of the boring microfiche searching (thanks mum).
You can contact me at jackievb (at) optusnet (dot) com (dot) au